


A Side of Fries (And Hold the Tears)

by she_who_the_river_could_not_hold



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, high school crushes because those are wild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-10 21:38:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13510278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/she_who_the_river_could_not_hold/pseuds/she_who_the_river_could_not_hold
Summary: Lucas Sinclair has an after-school job at Benny’s Diner and tonight he’d really love for his shift to finish up as smoothly as possible. That’s no longer an option though when just before closing time, his classmate and crush, Max Mayfield, storms in. This would normally be great except for the fact that she’s obviously been crying. Maybe it’s not the best time to reveal his feelings for her, but there’s no way he can let her stay sad so he tries to figure out the best way to help her (and also somehow not embarrass himself).





	A Side of Fries (And Hold the Tears)

Often the longest part of the day is when you’re counting down the minutes to whatever time you need it to be.

 

This is especially true when you work in the food industry.

 

Lucas Sinclair wiped the sweat off of his brow and stole another glance at the clock hanging on the wall. It ticked mockingly at him as the second hand seemed to practically slow down, as if sensing him looking at it.

 

Ten minutes to closing.

 

It couldn’t come fast enough.

 

While mowing lawns had been lucrative enough when he was in middle school, his parents had encouraged him to find a part time job once he reached high school. Which brought him to where he was now, a server at Benny’s diner just outside of the main Hawkins’ downtown area. It really wasn’t too bad of a gig either, giving him both the chance to make some extra cash as well as more access to Benny’s delicious, greasy food. So honestly a massive win.

 

One of the other bonuses was that he had been able to convince Will to apply as well, once he had heard that Will was trying to find a job as well. Money wasn’t something the party ever talked about, but it was sometimes harder for Will to ignore the financial differences between their families. Lucas hadn’t wanted to make it about money, but he had briefly mentioned it to Will in hopes to have(a) a friend to work with and (b) maybe help Will out. It had taken some coaxing on Joyce’s part since she still sometimes felt unnecessarily embarrassed by their situation, but the presence of Lucas at the diner helped eliminate some of her nerves about her baby boy getting his first real job.

 

Right now it was a Thursday night and it had been a slow afternoon at the diner. 

 

“I thought more people would come by after the football game,” Will said distractedly, loosely doodling on one of the napkins.

 

Lucas shrugged, his head resting on his fists as he leaned down on his elbows.

 

“We must have lost.”

 

Shoving himself off the counter, Lucas rests his back against the cold metal counter. Their last customer had been old man Merril, who had eaten his usual well-done burger and sweet potato fries and then left with a stern reminder to the boys to go to his pumpkin patch this year instead of Eugene’s. That had been almost an hour ago now.

 

The little bell on the front door rang as it was opened, but Lucas was too busy trying to remember his homework for the night to bother looking at the customer who had slunk in at the last minute.

 

“Hey isn’t that Max? The girl you have a crush on?” Will asks in a dramatic whisper, tilting his head past Lucas’ frame so that he can see the figure of who just walked in.

 

Nearly losing his balance in the process, Lucas spins around to poke his head over the counter.

 

Oh. 

 

Yeah that’s definitely Max.

 

She had first entered Lucas’ life in seventh grade, unexpectedly showing up one day as the newest student at Hawkins Middle School. She had blown in on a skateboard and with a defensive attitude. Lucas hadn’t blamed her either, moving to Hawkins from California seemed like a brutal exchange. 

 

He’d also immediately developed a crush on her. 

 

He knows it’s a cliche to fall for the new girl. He knows that but it didn’t stop him.

 

She was just _so cool_.

 

She stood up for herself both in class and against the other kids who tried to bully her. It turned out she an extremely competitive student and Lucas found himself in a silent race against her in classes. And she was also super into movies, especially horror ones, which just seemed extra cool for some reason.

 

Then it turned out she could actually, like really skateboard.

 

Every time Lucas would see her skate into school he would feel his heart mimic those crazy tricks she would do at lunchtime. 

 

However it wasn’t until high school that they began to interact more.

 

Her friend group had developed into small, all-girl group mixed of seemingly misfits, girls who didn’t quite fit in, and one day had suddenly decided that the Lucas and the rest of the party were the perfect group for teasing and sarcastic banter. 

 

Lucas wasn’t positive if it was mainly because there were undeniable sparks between Mike and one of the girls, El Hopper the police chief’s daughter, but he knew he wasn’t complaining about the sudden new interactions.

 

When he had walked into his Honors History class freshman year of high school, Max had patted the seat next to her and announced loudly, “Hey Stalker sit next to me. It’ll be easier to compete in class this way.”

 

Okay so apparently she had figured out his little mental competitions in middle school.

 

It had been two years now of them challenging each other in classes and occasionally hanging out in the cafeteria when El found an excuse to ask Mike about homework. But that was always it, just contained to school hallways and stuffy classrooms, and always surrounded by classmates and friends.

 

This was new territory.

 

“Oh, I mean I guess it looks like it could be her,” Lucas tried to play off nonchalantly. 

 

Will grinned up at him, obviously enjoying his best friend’s discomfort.

 

“Aren’t you going to go see what she wants?”

 

Lucas let out a long breath as he glanced back out at her.

 

“Pretty sure that’s your section,” he said. “Plus we close soon. And we haven’t mopped up yet.” The excuses were building on themselves.

 

Will tilted his head, eyes narrowed at Lucas as he toyed with a thread on the edge of his polo. Lucas, normally the least frazzled of the group, seemed inexplicably nervous. Sighing, Will decided he was going to have to take matters into his own hands.

 

“You go take her order, I’ll start cleaning up ahead of time. And then the next time we do a campaign you owe me big time,” he says with a teasing grin and a nod towards Max.

 

Lucas can feel his eyebrows shoot up and he looks back towards the booth where she’s seated. What would be having a one-on-one conversation alone with her be like?

 

With a small laugh, Will gives Lucas a small nudge and pushes him towards the main dining area. Lucas, taking a deep breath, grabs a menu from the countertop and pushes his way through the door.

 

The jukebox that Benny has managed to keep working all this time is quietly playing in the background and for a hot second Lucas is pretty sure he’s entered a cheesy movie. Shaking his head, he quickly tries to erase that thought. He can’t let his imagination run ahead of him. Good lord, after all he hasn’t even spoken to her yet.

 

Max is hunched over, having shoved herself deep into the booth.

 

Approaching the table, he clears his throat to help alert her to his presence. Startled at his arrival, she shakes back her long red hair and blinks distractedly up at him. When she realizes who it is, a small smirk forms on her mouth. Her cheeks look wet though and Lucas finds his gaze locked awkwardly on her face as he tries to process the situation.

 

“Oh, hey Stalker,” she says, sitting upright and furiously wiping at her face.

 

Lucas can’t hold back his eye roll.

 

“You know it’s not stalking if I actually work here, right?”

 

Max mumbles something under her breath incoherently, which he doesn’t bother catching. He’s too distracted by the lack of fire in her voice and how unnerving it is seeing her in what appeared to be a post-crying state.

 

“Can I get you anything? I mean, we’re supposed to close in like ten minutes but we can still pull something quick together,” he said cautiously, trying to gauge her reaction. 

 

He doesn’t want to rush her, but at the same time he’d really like to get going if she’s just going to tease him like usual. As much as he normally enjoys that, they can do that outside the diner.

 

That doesn’t seem to be what she’s in the mood for though and she seriously looks down at the menu in front of her. Running her hand over the slick plastic covering of it, she thinks for a minute before deciding on her choice. 

 

“Can I just get some loaded tater tots?” Her voice is becoming more of it’s confident self, though she can’t quite hide the wobble in it.

 

Lucas does his best to control his urge to place a comforting hand on her shoulder and slide into her seat and ask her what’s wrong. That would be a bit much. His heart goes out to her though for whatever she appears to be going through and when he confirms her order back, he can’t hide the softness in his voice. The gentle smile she returns to him before sinking back into the booth makes his palms immediately sweat and a rush of giddiness flow through him.

 

_Get a grip Sinclair._

 

After Benny groans and gives him a knowing look, he agrees to make the order. Lucas nervously taps out a rhythm on his legs while he waits for the food, occasionally checking the booth area to make sure she hasn’t darted (or just so he can look at her but that’s not important). Will has his headphones in while he mops and makes obnoxious kissy faces when Lucas looks over his way. Making sure Benny doesn’t see him, Lucas slips Will a quick middle finger.

 

Benny calls out to Lucas to get _“the damn tots”_ and Lucas hurriedly makes his way to grab them and then rush back out to deliver them.

 

When he walks up the booth again, Max slowly looks up at him.

 

Her face has gone quite pink, the flush growing up from neck and blooming onto her cheeks. Her eyes have regained that glassy look and he can tell she’s trying her hardest to hold herself together.

 

It felt like she was doing a good enough job until he opens his mouth to say something and she bursts into tears.

 

Lucas is taken aback and nearly drops the tots on the table. When it becomes clear she’s not joking around, he places the basket down quickly and immediately slides into the booth next to her. When he hesitantly reaches towards her, she sort of nods her head as way of granting permission and he wraps his arm around her shoulders. 

 

Nestling her head against shoulder, she lets out a couple more choking sobs. Lucas gently draws circles on her back, gingerly pulling a couple of her long stray hairs out of his mouth.

 

“I’m sorry,” she finally says, gulping in air as she sits up.

  
Lucas shakes his head, hating that she’s apologizing for showing emotions.

 

“It’s totally okay, don’t worry. Do you want to talk about it?” 

 

She wipes the tears from her face then looks down at her hands.

 

“I guess it isn’t anything new. My step-brother and step-dad were arguing again but it was at dinner this time. And I don’t know. It just kept escalating and my mom just got up to wash dishes and then Billy threw a plate at the wall and that was it. I just grabbed my skateboard and left.”

 

Max’s voice is sullen and she’s twisting a thread on her shirt around her finger. 

 

Lucas has been silent the whole time. While he knew that her brother was a jerk, racking his brain he wasn’t sure it had ever come to light before this that it was that bad. 

 

It feels like sorry isn’t enough of a word to describe what he’s feeling, but he says it anyway and she responds with a small, somber smile and rests her head on his shoulder. He resumes tracing shapes on her back when his eyes fall on the rapidly-cooling loaded tater tots.

 

“Wait, does that mean this is your dinner? If yours at home got interrupted?” 

 

She gives a small shrug as a response and Lucas can’t stop the small cry of protest escape his lips. Loaded tater tots, no matter how good, are not an acceptable dinner option.

 

“Okay well that’s not got going to fly with me. Come back to my place, it’s game night at my house and no doubt my mom still has leftovers. I can’t with good conscious let this be your dinner.”

 

Lucas’ voice is firm and while he’s talking Max has sat upright again and is giving him an odd look. Her mouth twitches into a smile though the longer he talks and he feels himself growing more confident.

 

“Plus I mean Benny’s is great don’t get me wrong, but my mom is the best cook in Hawkins. I’m not even kidding. So really it’s a win/win for you.” He quickly adds on when he sees her smile grow wider, “And anyway it’ll give me another chance to kick your ass. This time outside the classroom.”

 

At that, she tilts her head back and lets out her usual laugh, one that fills the room and always makes those around her smile. There are a few tears still leaking from her eyes but she quickly brushes them away. 

 

“It’s cute that you think you can beat me, you’re clearly underestimating my game night skills there Sinclair,” she declares.

 

“Oh see I’ve got a secret weapon. You’re going to be so distracted by my mom’s cooking that you’ll completely mess up,” he replies, trying to sound as serious as possible. 

 

Max bites her lip as she smiles, placing her hand on top of Lucas’ on the table.

 

“Thanks… thanks for this for Lucas,” she says, all of her normal teasing out of her voice. Instead it’s warm and sincere and Lucas feels a glow take over him.

 

“Of course Max, that’s what friends are for.”

 

“Yeah, _friends_ ,” she echoes and he can feel himself blush at the way she says the word. That was definitely teasing right? There was a glint in her eye when she said it and he tried to not jump to conclusions. But something was definitely up.

 

They’re getting up to leave when Max looks back down at the tray of food.

 

“Oh shit yeah, how much are these?”

 

Lucas waves her off as he unties his apron. 

 

“Forget about it, consider them on the house.”

 

“Wow dating you is going to have so many perks.” 

 

Lucas can’t even fully process what Max just said before she’s spun on her heel with a wink and made her way out the door towards his bike, her skateboard slung over her shoulder. He’s standing frozen in the diner before Will’s voice calls out from the kitchen.

 

“Lucas Sinclair get your ass out there before she changes her mind!”

 

He doesn’t need telling twice and with a shake of his head and laugh at how everything has just changed, he starts jogging outside to catch up to her.

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by this prompt for this one and couldn’t resist creating a cute little oneshot for these two! Thanks for checking it out and hope you enjoyed it!


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